Monday, December 23, 2013

I wanted to pop in and give you a picture of the Christmas gifts I am giving to my grown nieces and nephews. They have come to expect candy in some form from me each year.

This is a print out from WorldLabel.com by Lia Griffith. You can download the file and then some of them you even can fill out what you want to put on them, for instance if you made jam or whatever, you could fill that in describing what was in the jar. I used a 2" circle punch to cut them out and they fit perfectly on the pint mason jars.

I just filled with candy and tied a bow and tag (Stampin' Up stamp, punch & ribbon). There were a lot to make so this was very time efficient.

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Hello,
I wanted to post some of the cards I made this year. It seemed I was always behind schedule this year for some reason! I did get a new grandchild so the anticipation of waiting for her I think threw me off! Ha but in the end it all gets done! Now I just have to prepare for my annual Christmas Eve party for my friends and family. So hope you enjoy the cards below:

This is a Tim Holtz Christmas stamp with a Hero Arts sentiment . I couldn't find a tree I liked for this scene so this tree was on a Hero Arts tag stamp so I just masked the rest of the stamp off and just stamped the tree. I created the background by embossing some stars and then distressing with Broken China Distress ink for the sky and on the bottom of the card I used Iced Spruce Distress ink, then I rubbed the ink from the stars. I added some sequins for a little shine. I like the way it turned out.

This is a Wplus9 Woodland Wreath stamp. I love this stamp it was on backorder for so long I wasn't sure I would get it in time. I embossed some stars in the background with some silver embossing powder and I used a Papertrey Ink sentiment. This is a great stamp too! I couldn't stop using it! I used a piece of designer paper from the Tim Holtz Christmas kit and some Authentique Christmas paper. I finished by attaching a small bow to the wreath.

This is all Lawn Fawn Winter Park. This was one of the first stamps I ordered for this season. I paper pieced the snow on the bench and I put some Diamond Stickles on it. I used a sponge dauber and some Momento ink to dab a little glow to the lamp and a little Wink of Stella on the lamp lights. I stamped some snowflakes and I also added some sequins for a little shine and bakers twine to tie it all in.

This is a Christmas Art Impressions stamp. I got this awhile ago from a sale at Joanne Fabrics. I watercolored this with Distress Markers on Hero Arts Watercolor paper. I just added a bit of designer paper. The greeting is from Hero Arts, I have their Christmas Greetings stamp and I use it a lot!! I think it is a perfect card for a man.

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Hi,
Sorry it has been a couple of weeks, Thanksgiving is over and gearing up for Christmas!

I will share some cards I made for Christmas soon.

However, I made these card pouches that hold 4 cards and 4 envelopes. I made them as Christmas gifts for members of my family. I am always asked if people can buy my cards but I usually don't want to do that so next best thing is to give them as gifts! I made cards for my daughter's baby shower to give as prizes and they were very well received. The tutorial for this is on Splitcoaststampers.com, the link is here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/cardpouch/. Just highlight the link and cut and paste it into your browser to go to the tutorial.

I love the way these turned out and they are really easy to do. You can decorate the outside anyway you like. The backs of the pouches are shown below. The original tutorial was for notecards but this was adjusted for A2 cards by cutting a 7 1/2 x 12 piece of heavy cardstock and 2 pieces of heavy cardstock cut at 2 3/4 x 7. These two pieces of cardstock are attached on the inside and they form the pouches to hold the cards. The scoring is the same as in the tutorial.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Hi,
I was out of town yesterday and just now caught up on the lesson from yesterday. The lesson was wonderful as were all the others in the workshop. I really enjoyed this class and will take more if they are offered.

I didn't have all of the supplies that were needed to make Kristina Werner's or Jennifer McGuire's cards so I kinda did a version of Debby Hughes'. I put washi tape in Christmas colors in the backgound of Neena Desert Storm cardstock. I then cut a Christmas bulb from a Sizzix set that was in combination with Hero Arts stamps. These stamp/die sets are very nice and really great when you get them on sale! The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts. I popped the Christmas bulb on foam squares and tied the top with some bakers twine. I also used a Wink of Stella clear glitter pen on the bulb. I love these pens they add just a subtle touch of sparkle that doesn't always show up in photographs, but it is a nice touch.

I also did a second card, I used a Tim Holtz Blueprint Tree stamp. I stamped in on the Neena Desert Storm card stock and then I stamped a second one. I fussy cut and distressed the second tree with Tim Holtz Distress Ink and used foam squares to pop up the tree. I water colored the bulbs and attached them with foam squares. I also used the Wink of Stella clear glitter pen on this card. Shari Carroll did a version of this card and I admired it so much I wanted to try it.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Hello again!
The second post for today is the masculine card from the lesson in the online workshop today. I chose solid colors that seemed masculine to me. As I said in the first post today I do struggle not to add a lot of embellishments to cards that I intend to be sent to men or boys. The wreath is from Hero Arts, the same as the wreath stamp used on the feminine card. I embossed the wreath in silver and then just added the greeting which I embossed in white. The greeting has a couple of silver-ish brads to kind of tie it into the silver theme.

Even though it is pretty simple and I spent way less time on it then the feminine card I am happy with it.

The lesson today focused on masculine and feminine cards. I have to say I struggle with this. I tend to make cards with lots of girly touches. I ask my husband for suggestions but he doesn't always get what I am asking. *sigh*. The first post will be the feminine card, I stenciled the background with a Simon Says Stamp stencil. The wreath stamp is Hero Arts and then I pieced with patterned papers that I chose from my scraps so can't really put a name to them, just Christmas colors. I embellished with some red, green and clear crystals and some green and red pearls. The greeting is embossed and popped up on foam squares. Hope you like!

I am going to show the masculine card in a separate post. Thanks for looking.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Hi,
The online card class today was about finding ways to use the stamps you have in different ways. I made a card similar to what Shari Carroll made today. I used mostly Lawn Fawn products on this card. The silver embossed snowflakes along the curved lines is a Simon Says Stamp border die. I curved the border die on my stamp press to be able to stamp along the edge.

I cut the curved lines with the Simon Says Stamp A2 die. I absolutely love this die. The curves are edged with paper by cutting the curve and them moving it slightly and cutting again to get the edge.

I added the small silver tree and I put some colored crystals on it so the tree would stand out. I like the way this card turned out.

I also made another card because it seems I am unable to stop once I start. I only stop because I have to cook dinner!

The wreath is made with the little fir branch (or whatever it is) in the Peace Joy Love Lawn Fawn stamp. I am pretty sure it isn't meant to be used to make a wreath, so that is where I used the stamp in a different way. :) I stamped in two shades of green and embellished with some red pearls. The Merry is part of a die from Simon Says Stamp that I embossed in silver. The papers are Lawn Fawn. I just added a small bow from bakers twine.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hi,
Even though I have been taking the Holiday Online Card class which is focusing on Christmas cards, I realized I had better get busy making Thanksgiving cards for this year. I tried a couple of new things this year and liked how they came out.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Hi,Today was the third day of classes for the Holiday Card Workshop Online Classes. What stood out for me today was Jennifer Rzasa's quilling process for her card. I am going to practice and see if I can recreate it sometime in the future. What I created today was something like Shari Carroll's card. Her work is always so beautiful and she makes it look so easy.I created this as 'homework' for today's class. I stamped a greeting and accented the stars with some gold Wink of Stella and then I framed it. The papers are from Lawn Fawn's Peace Joy Love collection. I added some pieced birds from the Lawn Fawn Peace Joy Love stamp set added them. The colors aren't totally traditional but I am happy with this card.

I also wanted to create a really simple card and I actually like this quite a bit. Just some stamping, a little coloring with Distress Markers, and some enamel dots. Pretty simple. Oh yeah this the Lawn Fawn Peace Joy Love stamp set.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Hello!After watching today's videos for the Holiday Workshop I was stunned. Jennifer's 'puzzle piece' die cuts were phenomenal. Stephanie Klauk did suspension cards, which I decided to try and duplicate today. My card is below.

This is the first time I have ever tried to do a suspension card. I 'floated' the snowflakes on fishing line (my husband's contribution). I embellished with sequins and the sentiment is anchored with twine and some red crystals to accent, I popped it up on some foam adhesives.I decided I wanted to do some more die cutting since everything was already all over my craft table :) The card below is not a suspension card but has a lot of die cutting, which was also part of the class today. I cut the circle from a 3" Sizzix die and the border with the 3" and 4" circle die. The birds are from Lawn Fawn, so cute! I water colored the birds with Distress Markers and then die cut them. I embossed the snowflakes and the sentiment. I then used some bakers twine to tie it all up.

Monday, November 11, 2013

I am participating in the Online Card Classes for the new Holiday Card Workshop 2013. My first submission to the Student Gallery is below. It is only the first day and I have so many new ideas. The card below is 'homework' for the first day of classes.

The background is the Falling Snow stencil from Simon Says Stamp using Colorbox Frost White ink. The stamp is from Hero Arts which I pieced with papers from Authentique Christmas collection. I embellished with enamel dots, Wink of Stella Clear Glitter pen, and gold stickles for the star. The sentiment is embossed and embellished with some sequins.Inside of the card is below.

Below are some more cards I made for Halloween. These will be sent to family and friends.

I also made envelopes for the cards with the We R Memory Keepers envelope maker, which I LOVE btw, so easy.

I will post some descriptions for the cards below.

This was made with the Alley Way Monster Mash stamp set, which is just adorable. This stamp set also has birthday sentiments on it so it is pretty versatile. I am always on the lookout for stamps that can work for kids. I used googly eyes for some cute accents.

I love this stamp so much. It is from Art Impressions and I colored with Inktense Watercolor pencils. I also added some enamel dots which are another weakness of mine. :)

This card is made with October Afternoon Witch Hazel Collection. I love the vintage look of all of their collections.

Ha this stamp is another favorite of mine. So cute. This was colored with Inktense pencils also.